


In My Head

by TheSovereigntyofReality



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Had to change tags, Not Steve Friendly, Not Wanda Friendly, Team Tony, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony is fine, What if Wanda tried to use her powers on Jessica Jones, mental manipulation, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-08 21:38:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13467075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSovereigntyofReality/pseuds/TheSovereigntyofReality
Summary: Wanda uses her powers way too liberally.One day she tries it on Jessica Jones. The result is that Steve sends Tony to "deal" with it.Consequence: Tony finds out some things he was never intended to find out.





	1. Mental Manipulation

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer: If you recognise it from somewhere else, it isn't mine.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't actually seen Jessica Jones, so I'm taking a few liberties here based on what I've heard and read.
> 
> This is also a response to the confusion people seem to have on my OC's powers ( _Magneto_ and _The Super-Soldier_ ).

‘Haw.’ Tony Stark prodded the inside of his cheek with his tongue. ‘You know, Rogers insisted she doesn’t do that stuff anymore.’

‘And how would he know?’ Jessica Jones asked.

‘He doesn’t,’ Tony said. ‘I’ve got no idea why he keeps defending her.’ Truth be told, Tony was more inclined to believe Jones than he was to believe Rogers. _Attacked with no provocation_ vs. _I was mind-controlled for several years_ – what a no brainer. The fact that “calming her” hadn’t worked suggested to Tony that Jones’s brain had built up defences against mental manipulation, which could only happen under prolonged exposure. ‘So how can you actually tell when someone’s trying to screw around in your head?’

‘It’s kind of like a pressure,’ Jones said. ‘And it’s a gut reaction – kind of like when you know you’re being watched.’

Yeah, the brain would, after years of being externally controlled, logically develop a way to recognise the same thing happening again. The fact that Wanda had indicated to Tony that it may be a recurring thing. It was something to consider, and it wouldn’t hurt to check. ‘Know anyone who could scan for them?’

Jones cracked a smile, probably guessing why he was asking. ‘Personally, no. But I know someone who would.’

Tony left shortly after and called up Rhodey and Hill and told them what had actually happened, rather than Rogers’ version of it.

‘So, basically,’ Rhodey said, ‘she triggered somebody with PTSD.’

‘Pretty much.’

‘So this means Wanda is potentially still extending the use of her powers?’ Hill asked.

‘Yeah, Jones gave me the name and workplace of someone who’s well-enough connected to check,’ Tony said. ‘That’s where I’m going now.’

‘Well, where is it?’ Rhodey asked. ‘We’ll meet you there.’

Sure enough, when Tony arrived as Force Fitness Gym, Rhodey and Hill were waiting for him. They went inside. Lennie Alice was apparently having a snack in her office. The woman herself looked to be in her mid-30s and was filling out some paperwork as they came in. There were three chairs set out in front of her. ‘There’s coffee in the percolator if you want some.’ She nodded her head towards the table along the side of the room.

‘How’d you know there’d be three of us?’ Tony asked, going over to the percolator.

Lennie set her pen down and sat back in her chair. ‘Jess didn’t mention? I’m a seer. I saw you walk in before you actually did.’

Hill and Rhodey glanced at each other before looking at her. Tony turned away from the coffee. ‘How does that work?’

‘From the balance of probability and the principles of cause and effect,’ Lennie said. ‘My husband had it first – it was a quirk that popped up in his family every now and again. When he died, he passed them to me via a genetic transfer. Of course, I had to alter my own molecular structure in order to take it.’

‘What do you mean?’ Hill asked.

‘Precognition shows you every available possibility,’ Lennie said. ‘If a decision changes – anybody’s decision – it can change the entire outcome. I have to calculate what is most likely to happen, and I had to train for 10 years to learn how to do it properly.’

‘That makes sense,’ Tony said. ‘So do you know what I’m about to say?’ He handed Rhodey and Hill a coffee before retrieving his own.

‘Yup.’ Lennie nodded. ‘So, what’s Maximoff’s problem with you anyhow?’

‘She thinks I killed her parents, apparently,’ Tony said.

Hill elaborated. ‘Their apartment was destroyed during the Sokovian Civil War and their parents were killed. They saw an unexploded bomb with Stark’s name on it.’

‘In the middle of a war?’ The look on her face reminded Tony of his mom when he tried to spin her a story about why a vase or a window was broken. Which, when you thought about it, was reasonable. People died in wars. If you were holding a grudge for casualties that occurred in a war then...

‘So far we haven’t been able to track the bomb,’ Rhodey said.

‘So it was probably fake,’ Lennie said. ‘Especially if there was no “boom”. Can’t say I’m really surprised about Rogers though.’

‘Really?’ Tony asked. ‘Why not?’

‘I was actually around when they first injected him.’ Lennie saw the looks on their faces and chuckled. ‘The modifications to my molecules had the side-effect of decelerating my ageing.’ She went on. ‘My husband was working for TECHNIT and he was stationed in that SSR base. He called Rogers a naive little idiot. The only reason he did the first mission was because Carter got the intelligence, and Howard flew him out.’

That surprised Tony. ‘Dad was a pilot?’ And he would have to have been a good one to get in and out of enemy airspace without being spotted.

‘Yup.’ Lennie stood up and picked up her canteen. ‘But the point of it is that Rogers was only successful because he had competent people around him. Theo said he had zero respect for authority, but he was so polite about it that most people didn’t notice, and he was quick to jump to conclusions.’

‘That explains so much,’ Hill said. ‘He decided early on that the Maximoffs were just misguided kids who wanted to defend their county.’

‘Must be dumber than I thought,’ Lennie mused.

‘Dumber how?’ Rhodey asked.

‘He can’t tell the difference between a civil war and an international war,’ Lennie said. ‘In a civil war, you’re not fighting for your country – as I’m sure you already know; you’re fighting for who is in control of your country.’

Maria let out a noise that indicated agreement. ‘That’s not even mentioning the fact that they volunteered for HYDRA.’

For a moment, Lennie’s eyes glazed over. ‘He’s got an ulterior motive.’

That must’ve been a vision. ‘You saw that just now?’ Tony asked.

‘Yeah,’ Lennie said. ‘He wants to use her to clear the way for someone else – looked like Bucky Barnes. Right.’ She clapped her hands and then rubbed them together. ‘We can kill two birds with one stone. You came here to ask me for someone who could scan for mental manipulations.’

It wasn’t a question. Tony answered it like it was anyway. ‘Yes.’

‘I’ve got one,’ Lennie said. ‘He can not only scan you, but he can put up defences against her influence as well. And he can find out what the hell’s going on with Rogers.’

‘So where is he?’ Hill asked.

‘Westchester.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Wanda actually tried to do I'm leaving as a Noodle Incident, but it was enough to set Jessica off.


	2. Response

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's found out the truth, and he's _not_ happy.

Tony strode through the tower, the tension in his shoulders was only seen when he was really, truly angry.

Rhodey had known Tony a long time.

When Lennie took them to Westchester, and to meet Professor Charles Xavier, he had, as promised, scanned Tony’s mind. He immediately found traces of mental influence. Rhodey didn’t know what she had done to him precisely, but the Professor told him it had made him far more susceptible to criticism than he was normally. Xavier had then fixed the damage and given them all a set of mental shields that would protect them from any further attempts.

Apparently, she’d also tried this on Rhodey – which made him grind his teeth. The Professor had explained, though, that the reason he hadn’t responded (which must’ve driven her up the wall) was the tendency of human minds to reject anything they perceived to be untrue. Rhodey had known Tony long enough, and been through enough with him, to know that the pitch Maximoff was trying to sell was utter hogwash.

‘Most likely, she’s doing it unconsciously,’ Xavier said. ‘She wants pity and sympathy, and she hates Tony. If she was doing it intentionally, I should think it would be far more precise.’

Then they went to find out Rogers motives for putting her on the Avengers.

The answer, it turned out, was simple: Precedence.

As Lennie had thought, it was about Bucky Barnes. For the past 50 plus years, he had been a brainwashed assassin forced to do HYDRA’s bidding. Rogers thought, although unconsciously, that if he sold Wanda Maximoff as a misguided girl that HYDRA took advantage of, he could get Barnes out of trouble. Apparently, he never got the memo that being brainwashed was an extenuating circumstance.

Besides, those were two different circumstances.

When Hill had asked why he hadn’t asked more people for help on his Bucky-search, the Professor found the information that now had Tony storming through the tower. It had also stopped Tony’s awestruck gawking at Cerebro – the magnifier that the Professor had to help him look for the information.

‘Last year, Mr. Rogers came upon strong evidence that your parents did not die in the car accident; they were, in actual fact, assassinated. The assassin was the Winter Soldier.’

Barnes had killed Howard and Maria Stark. The most solid of the evidence had apparently come from a folder Romanoff had given Rogers on the Winter Soldier, which had a list of the Soldier’s targets. Howard Stark’s name was on the list. Tony had found a computer copy and then, on Rhodey’s suggestion, quietly slipped it to the CIA.

The CIA had then coordinated with various other intelligence agencies and Barnes was tracked down in Bucharest, Romania. BAT had been sent in to arrest him. The report the CIA had sent to Tony had said he’d come quietly and was currently sitting in a psychiatric hospital in the city. Rhodey had just returned from Bucharest himself.

‘The guy hardly knows which way is up,’ Rhodey told Tony. ‘As soon as I said I was sent by you he went “Howard’s kid” and then he sank in on himself and went “I’m sorry”.’

But sorry wasn’t going to bring them back. Maybe it was uncharitable of him to think that way but “sorry” was an easy word to say. It was far better what he was actually _doing_ about it. So far, Barnes had remembered and divulged about 9 of his victims – some of which had been “disappeared”.

‘What did the psychiatrist say?’ Tony asked.

‘Diminished capacity is feasible,’ Rhodey said. ‘He suspects Barnes was subjected to torture and regular memory wipes. What have you got?’

‘I dropped a few remarks about Maximoff volunteering for HYDRA,’ Tony said. ‘Visa’s going to end up with a big, red “rejected”. I also “borrowed” the jet for upgrades.’

‘It’s your jet!’

‘Something they seem to forget.’

‘Did you mention the wings to the Air Force?’

‘Yup.’ Tony checked his watch. ‘And Wilson should be getting apprehended for it about now.’

Rhodey almost felt sorry for the guy, but he had stolen the Exo-Wings, which were easily worth a few million. And why? “Cap needed my help” or “Cap said I could” would not be good enough. He should be familiar enough with the military to know that having used them before, even routinely, did not automatically make them his property.

‘Boss,’ FRIDAY said. ‘You have a phone call.’

‘Who from?’

‘The forensic lab,’ FRIDAY said. ‘The CIA contacted the FBI and they’ve put together a team to re-open the investigation on your parents’ deaths.’

Tony stopped. ‘Oh. Okay. Patch ‘em through.’

‘Mr. Stark?’

‘Speaking,’ Tony folded his arms. Rhodey had a feeling about what was coming, and from the body language Tony was thinking the same thing.

‘My name is Dr. Hammond. I’m a forensic investigator in the FBI. I’m calling about the suspicions that have recently come to light.’

‘Yes? Go on.’

‘A representative of the BAT has just called us and informed us that Sgt. Barnes has been talking about the hit on your parents. I apologise for this, but while your mother was strangled, your father was bashed in the face. I’m calling in order to seek your permission to exhume the body so we can examine his skull.’

Just as he thought. It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. It could’ve been both of them, but the tell-tale damage on Maria Stark would have vanished by now. Howard’s skeleton would still be in tact enough for them to determine what had killed him, and confirm that it was a person, not a vehicle. Logically, it made sense. Emotionally...

Tony let out a heavy sigh. But he swallowed and answered. ‘All right. I’ll have my lawyers draft up some written permission and have it delivered.’

‘Thank you, Mr. Stark.’ Dr. Hammond didn’t say more than he had to. ‘Good day.’ He hung up.

‘Tones?’

‘I’m okay,’ Tony murmured.

‘No, you’re not.’

‘I will be.’

‘Tell you what?’ Rhodey hooked an arm around his shoulder. ‘Why don’t you head into the workshop and tinker until you feel better? I’ll run the fort up here.’

Tony gave a tight smile. ‘Thanks, platypus.’

‘Hate to interrupt, boss, but Mr. Rogers is on the line.’

‘I’m not in.’ Tony headed for the workshop. ‘He can solve his own damn problems for once.’


	3. Final Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rogers is having trouble understanding, so Lennie asks for one final message to be sent.

‘Who’s Frank Castle?’ Tony asked.

‘I don’t know the full details,’ Lennie said. ‘Just what I could dig up. He calls himself “the Punisher”. From what I understand, his wife and kid were murdered and the killer got away scot-free. I don’t know if there just wasn’t enough information and evidence to arrest and convict anyone or if he just had a bad batch of police on the case, but either way Castle decided the appropriate response to the situation was to take the law into his own hands. Ever since he’s been shooting people he thinks the world would be better off without.’

‘So he shoots Maximoff dead when she steps off the plane in Sokovia?’ Hill asked. ‘Does he really mistrust law enforcement so much he’s not willing to let her go to trial?’

‘Yup,’ Lennie said.

‘So how’d Wilson do?’ Tony decided that was a kettle of fish you would be wise not to touch.

‘He got ten years,’ Rhodey said. ‘Rogers tried to vouch for him, and now he’s got another accessory charge to his name.’

‘Another one?’ Lennie asked. ‘Oh! Right. Accessory to grand theft. Not as bad as accessory to murder, of course.’ She chuckled. ‘Poor Matt.’

Rhodey barked out a laugh. ‘Don’t tell me he still doesn’t get it!’

Lennie nodded her head. ‘Apparently it’s a difficult notion to accept: keeping knowledge of a murder to yourself is abetting in the crime.’ She leaned back. ‘By the way, Tony, Rogers wants to talk to you. You go and he’ll try guilt-tripping you into cleaning up his mess again.’

Tony scoffed. ‘Like that’s going to happen.’

‘Yeah, he’s a bit slow on the uptake.’ Lennie’s eyes, even as she spoke, were flickering. ‘Or maybe just boneheaded. I think he’s just boneheaded. No matter what any of us say or do, he’s not going to listen. Acknowledging him in any way whatsoever would be a massive waste of time. Tell you what I will do though.’

***

Steve sat in his cell. He’d tried breaking out already, but the bars had apparently been made with superhuman strength in mind. This had been one bad incident after another. First, Sam was arrested and then Wanda was deported. Steve had protested in both cases, but nobody listened. Then the jet stopped working so he and Nat had to take other options. They were arrested upon landing in Europe. Something about “illegal entry into the country”.

Then all this rubbish came up.

Steve had been shocked to learn that Bucky was in a psychiatric hospital in Romania and had wanted to run there but, as his lawyer had said, he was stuck in this cell. Steve worried about what they could be doing to Bucky. Instead, he tried to get contact with Tony. So far, he got nothing. Tony had apparently abandoned them.

Steve knew when it started.

That woman who’d attacked Wanda unprovoked in Hell’s Kitchen – some dirty little hole that was greatly lawless. The woman had suddenly shot over and punched Wanda, breaking her jaw, and Steve had rushed to Wanda’s aid. He had been surprised to find himself thrown into a wall with next to no effort. So he’d thrown his shield – and it’d been caught by a black man of imposing height. Despite the force Steve had thrown it with, the man was unharmed.

It’d erupted into a fight which left the Avengers limping home. Steve had called Tony to deal with it and had heard little-to-nothing more from him. That was when it all started. It was ridiculous. What could that woman possibly have offered Tony that the Avengers didn’t have better of? Why had he sold them out then?

Well, then this letter arrived. It was from Romania. Hoping it was from Bucky, Steve had quickly opened it. It was from Bucky, and Steve quickly read it.

_Steve,_

_~~What the hell is~~ _

_~~I don’t know what~~ _

_I got a phone call telling me what happened._

_~~You damn~~ _

_~~I can’t even~~ _

_First of all, you do realise you need a passport to cross international borders, right? You can’t just grab an aircraft and go. This is not World War 2._

_Secondly, you trusted a Black Widow? Really? All they ever do is seduce, lie, and kill. Don’t you know why they’re called “Black Widow”? In the actual Black Widow spiders, once a female finishes mating with a male, she eats him. Their bites are also extremely painful. That’s why they picked the name for them. The human Black Widows are meant to be a personification of that. You can’t trust them._

_~~You recruited a~~ _

_~~About that HYDRA bitch~~ _

_They told me about that Maximoff woman too, the one who volunteered for HYDRA. They said you kept insisting she was a misguided kid. If she was a kid, why did you have her on the battlefield? She wasn’t a kid and you knew it. And her grudge against Tony Stark? Well, that was full of shit! Sokovia was in the middle of a war – a civil war! There were no invaders! They were fighting each other! She didn’t volunteer to save her country. She volunteered because she wanted to kill Tony. She’s said that, punk._

_That woman was psychotic. Plain and simple._

_~~Were you paying any~~ _

_Don’t know if you noticed, punk. In war, people die. Kids are orphaned. It’s sad, yeah, but it’s not on the guy who makes the weapons – it’s on the one who uses the weapons. Blaming Howard’s kid for that made no sense. And you just fed their delusions. Oh, and while we’re on the topic of Howard._

_WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?_

_You find out I killed Howard and his wife, and you don’t tell anyone? What, you just hoped no one would find out? Your mom would be disgusted! Hell, I’m disgusted! Do you know my handlers told me not to worry too much about cleaning up because SHIELD would do it for me? And they did! But you!_

_You should’ve been better than that – Captain America(!)_

_~~I mean, Carter ran~~ _

_The hospital staff told me Tony supplied you guys after SHIELD fell. He gave you a place to live, he paid for everything, and he gave everything you asked of him. He gave all of the Avengers’ PR speeches for you and he was your fall guy._

_~~How could you treat Howard’s only kid~~ _

_Howard spent the better part of his life looking for you. His relationship with his son suffered on account of you. He kept your legend alive for all that time. And how do you repay him? By concealing his murder!_

_Those Starks were far better friends to you than you ever were to them._

_I think you need to take a good hard look in the mirror, punk, and think about what you’ve done._

_I also don’t think we should talk until you get it._

_See you around, punk._

_Bucky._

What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Rogers will only listen to Bucky, honestly. By this time, he's gotten enough treatment to remember who he was before and regain his agency.


End file.
